KEY POINTS:
Nothing in cricket will beat the great Ashes showdown of 2005, when England overturned the mighty Australians in a contest of startling drama.
The current four-match series between Australia and India comes very close though, and may be more significant in the long term. Australia have been boxing everyone's ears for so long but were left on the ropes in Perth. Cracks are appearing in the machine, through retirements, and India took full advantage in splendid bowling style at the Waca.
England were overtaken by triumphalism after the historic 2005 win, then slumped back into soft ways. India might be a different story, although it is quite amazing how players who thrive one season can struggle the next.
There are a couple in this current Indian team who fit that description, and the difference between Australia and the rest has been that their good players invariably keep on keeping on.
Still, while India cannot win this series and they might not even draw it, they have challenged Australia's dominance in a very significant way and another great stoush is set for Adelaide.
Had a new-look Australian team carried on its winning ways in Perth, we would all be thinking "here we go again". All praise to India for a magnificent victory that halted Australia's winning run at a record-equalling 16 tests.
India put aside controversies, stared down the best team in the world, and won convincingly. It was a fantastic match, as the whole series has been, filled with drama and skill.
The tourists showed that Australia can be vulnerable against different types of bowling, even in their own conditions. In the same way that Shane Warne revived and promoted leg spin, the young Indian pace attack may encourage other countries to develop more swing bowlers.
Swing bowling isn't just effective, it is also terrific to watch. The downside is the difficulty in controlling the swing and like many things in cricket, it is partly reliant on conditions. But swing bowling offers more to batsmen and bowlers - wickets and runs, thrills and spills, are in the offing.
A cricket world full of wristy spinners, a few outright speedsters, and genuine swing bowlers is a lip-smacking prospect.
New Zealand could take note. We've had a few good swing bowlers - the unique, front-on, Lance Cairns was almost unplayable on a good day and the more conventionally stylish Simon Doull had a fine if too-short career. Swing was a big part of Richard Hadlee's considerable arsenal. New Zealand relies too much on the line and length merchants though.
India's young pace attack, Irfan Pathan (23), R.P. Singh (22) and Ishant Sharma (19), tore Australia down with wonderful swing and curve. It wasn't always on the mark, but it meant no Australian batsmen looked comfortable for long. This was supposedly a second-string Indian attack yet Sharma's battle against Ricky Ponting was one of the best you will ever see in a test, with the great Australian bamboozled by a beanpole bowler young enough to rank as a bean sprout.
The series has become a clash between a stunned champion and a buoyant challenger.
Matthew Hayden's return will mean a lot to Australia. His replacement, Chris Rogers, had none of the chest-out confidence that Hayden exudes.
But a magnificent Australian side's pride has been dented; their hold broken. They have the basis of a powerful unit despite the retirements of a few greats, but there is a strong hint of vulnerability.
The superb opening partnership has gone, and the back-up bowling to Stuart Clark and Brett Lee is not imposing. They have yet to find a bona fide replacement for Shane Warne.
Australia were, as true champions, brave in defeat. Yet their batsmen, who are used to bludgeoning their way to victory and out of defeat, may have indulged in too much bravado.
They will not fall as they did in the 1980s. This team will bounce back, but the question is how high. Opponents will be encouraged and Australia may have to share the yellow jersey in world cricket again.
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All credit to Souths forwards Roy Asotasi and David Kidwell for engineering the removal of Kiwi rugby league coach Gary Kemble. Someone had to do it, and an incompetent administration certainly wasn't up to the task.
The simple question is this - was Gary Kemble good enough to coach the Kiwis? Answer: no, and he never was. Not even close. He was only picked then retained because the New Zealand Rugby League dug itself into too many holes. The players and fans deserved much, much better.
They will have it with Wayne Bennett - if he takes the job - and the Kiwis might also look forward to having the very best of coaches in the frame from here on.
There were Kiwi players who did not act or play well last year. They need to take a hard look at their behaviour, if they care, although the selectors should probably take a hard look elsewhere.
But captain Asotasi in particular, because he kicked the rebellion off, and his backer Kidwell can be proud of what they have achieved. As for claims they should have used official channels: rubbish. Those are often the channels to failure, convenient places where self-serving administrators quietly put naysayers down. Loud and proud is the way lads, and the media need to celebrate players who break the national sporting mould of toeing the line.
Kemble's resignation on Saturday night, because his position was untenable, is a big moment for rugby league because it has avoided a total, utter disaster.
The game continually fights for international credibility, and it would have been left with none under Kemble's sorry reign. What the NZRL should know is that players like Asotasi have pushed themselves through the ranks of a very tough professional game, and one which is dominated by esteemed, almost guru-like Aussie club coaches both current and past. That is the only world they know.
Kemble was an NZRL odd-jobs man with no history of sustained success in our second-rate local rugby league environment.
In effect, professional players were being asked to construct a coach's career in the test match arena, and probably resented having to do so.
